PGA Tour rookie and first-round leader Chandler Blanchet made seven birdies and two bogeys to card a 5-under 67 and take a four-stroke lead at the halfway mark at the Puerto Rico Open. Four strokes matches the tournament record for largest 36-hole lead (other: Carson Young/2023).
“It’s been a very good two days. I mean, everything’s been kind of firing on all cylinders and playing some really steady golf in some windy, tough conditions. So it’s been maybe a little surprising, but it’s been fun,” said Blanchet.
The American, who leads the field in birdies (16), holds his first 36-hole lead/co-lead on the PGA Tour and made his cut in nine career starts.
“The first part of the season, it’s been difficult, for sure. It’s no fun practicing on Saturday and Sunday and not playing and waiting five days. So will be very happy to play some golf on a Saturday and Sunday this weekend,” he added.
Blanchet won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour (2025 Price Cutter Charity Championship, 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Championship) and finished No. 2 in the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List to secure PGA Tour membership for the 2026 season.
8 career holes-in-one?!
Get to know @KornFerryTour alum Chandler Blanchet who is leading @PuertoRicoOpen by FOUR heading into the weekend. pic.twitter.com/qJKjwiXzT9
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 7, 2026
Gordon Sargent of the USA made two bogeys and posted a 2-under 70 to sit four strokes behind Blanchet in solo second. 9-under 135 marks his career-low 36-hole score on Tour (previous best: 136, 2025 World Wide Technology Championship/finished T63).
American Ricky Castillo carded a 4-under 68 in the second round for a share of third place at 8-under. His best finish in four starts this season was 5th at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches.
Compatriot Blades Brown made a single bogey in his 67 for a share of third place alongside Sweden’s Jesper Svensson who carded a 2-under 69, matching his career-best 36-hole position on Tour (other: 2025 Cognizant Classic/finished T32).
Germany’s Jeremy Paul signed for a bogey-free 67 to join the tie at 8-under.
Making his PGA Tour debut as a sponsor exemption, John Daly II (USA) is T7 at 7-under having carded a 5-under 67 to hold the best 36-hole position of the six amateurs in the Puerto Rico Open field. He has made one previous career start in a Tour-sanctioned event as an amateur (2024 Compliance Solutions Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour/MC).
PGA Tour winner Rafael Campos (T28/-4) is the only player in the field from Puerto Rico to make the cut after posting a 2-under 70 in the second round. He is playing in his 16th start at the Puerto Rico Open, the most of any player at the event (best finish: T3/2021).
Related: Galvin Green unveils expanded Tour roster for 2026 with Svensson leading the charge
| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 | R2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chandler Blanchet | -13 | 64 | 67 | 131 |
| 2 | Gordon Sargent | -9 | 65 | 70 | 135 |
| T3 | Ricky Castillo | -8 | 68 | 68 | 136 |
| T3 | Jesper Svensson | -8 | 67 | 69 | 136 |
| T3 | Blades Brown | -8 | 69 | 67 | 136 |
| T3 | Jeremy Paul | -8 | 69 | 67 | 136 |
| T7 | Jimmy Stanger | -7 | 70 | 67 | 137 |
| T7 | Matti Schmid | -7 | 71 | 66 | 137 |
| T7 | Beau Hossler | -7 | 69 | 68 | 137 |
| T7 | John Daly II(a) | -7 | 70 | 67 | 137 |
| T7 | John Parry | -7 | 72 | 65 | 137 |
| T12 | Vince Whaley | -6 | 71 | 67 | 138 |
| T12 | Ben Kohles | -6 | 68 | 70 | 138 |
| T12 | Hayden Springer | -6 | 68 | 70 | 138 |
| T12 | Zach Bauchou | -6 | 70 | 68 | 138 |
| T12 | Kihei Akina(a) | -6 | 68 | 70 | 138 |
| T12 | Adam Hadwin | -6 | 68 | 70 | 138 |
| T12 | Pontus Nyholm | -6 | 69 | 69 | 138 |
| T19 | Zac Blair | -5 | 71 | 68 | 139 |
| T19 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | -5 | 72 | 67 | 139 |
| T19 | David Skinns | -5 | 68 | 71 | 139 |
| T19 | Ben Silverman | -5 | 72 | 67 | 139 |
| T19 | Brice Garnett | -5 | 71 | 68 | 139 |
| T19 | Ryan Brehm | -5 | 69 | 70 | 139 |
| T19 | Luke Clanton | -5 | 69 | 70 | 139 |
| T19 | A.J. Ewart | -5 | 72 | 67 | 139 |
| T19 | Davis Chatfield | -5 | 70 | 69 | 139 |
| T28 | James Hahn | -4 | 72 | 68 | 140 |
| T28 | Danny Walker | -4 | 71 | 69 | 140 |
| T28 | Zecheng Dou | -4 | 69 | 71 | 140 |
| T28 | Chan Kim | -4 | 70 | 70 | 140 |
| T28 | John VanDerLaan | -4 | 72 | 68 | 140 |
| T28 | Adam Svensson | -4 | 72 | 68 | 140 |
| T28 | David Lipsky | -4 | 70 | 70 | 140 |
| T28 | Rafael Campos | -4 | 70 | 70 | 140 |
| T28 | Peter Malnati | -4 | 69 | 71 | 140 |
| T28 | Adrien Dumont de Chassart | -4 | 70 | 70 | 140 |
| T28 | David Ford | -4 | 70 | 70 | 140 |
| T39 | Martin Laird | -3 | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| T39 | Kevin Streelman | -3 | 73 | 68 | 141 |
| T39 | Danny Willett | -3 | 71 | 70 | 141 |
| T39 | Mark Hubbard | -3 | 74 | 67 | 141 |
| T39 | Hank Lebioda | -3 | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| T39 | Davis Thompson | -3 | 72 | 69 | 141 |
| T39 | Davis Riley | -3 | 73 | 68 | 141 |
| T39 | Frankie Capan III | -3 | 69 | 72 | 141 |
| T39 | Dylan Wu | -3 | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| T39 | Michael Brennan | -3 | 69 | 72 | 141 |
| T39 | Eugenio Chacarra | -3 | 73 | 68 | 141 |
| T39 | Christo Lamprecht | -3 | 73 | 68 | 141 |
| T51 | Robert Streb | -2 | 69 | 73 | 142 |
| T51 | Henrik Norlander | -2 | 70 | 72 | 142 |
| T51 | Matthieu Pavon | -2 | 73 | 69 | 142 |
| T51 | Doug Ghim | -2 | 74 | 68 | 142 |
| T51 | Tyler Duncan | -2 | 73 | 69 | 142 |
| T51 | Sudarshan Yellamaraju | -2 | 73 | 69 | 142 |
| T51 | Erik Barnes | -2 | 70 | 72 | 142 |
| T51 | Fred Biondi | -2 | 71 | 71 | 142 |
| T51 | Paul Peterson | -2 | 72 | 70 | 142 |
| T51 | S.H. Kim | -2 | 74 | 68 | 142 |
| T51 | Troy Merritt | -2 | 71 | 71 | 142 |
| T51 | Carson Young | -2 | 71 | 71 | 142 |
| T51 | Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen | -2 | 72 | 70 | 142 |
| T51 | Austin Eckroat | -2 | 72 | 70 | 142 |
| T51 | Camilo Villegas | -2 | 73 | 69 | 142 |
| T51 | Isaiah Salinda | -2 | 72 | 70 | 142 |
| T51 | Marcelo Rozo | -2 | 70 | 72 | 142 |
| T51 | Miles Russell(a) | -2 | 71 | 71 | 142 |
| CUT | Luke List | -1 | 71 | 72 | 143 |
| CUT | Aaron Wise | -1 | 70 | 73 | 143 |
| CUT | Lanto Griffin | -1 | 71 | 72 | 143 |
| CUT | Eric Cole | -1 | 74 | 69 | 143 |
| CUT | Justin Lower | -1 | 77 | 66 | 143 |
| CUT | Kris Ventura | -1 | 73 | 70 | 143 |
| CUT | Taylor Montgomery | -1 | 76 | 67 | 143 |
| CUT | Ted Potter, Jr. | -1 | 72 | 71 | 143 |
| CUT | Adam Long | -1 | 75 | 68 | 143 |
| CUT | Charley Hoffman | Par | 71 | 73 | 144 |
| CUT | Seamus Power | Par | 75 | 69 | 144 |
| CUT | Cameron Champ | Par | 74 | 70 | 144 |
| CUT | Harry Higgs | Par | 72 | 72 | 144 |
| CUT | Nick Dunlap | +1 | 73 | 72 | 145 |
| CUT | Fabián Gómez | +1 | 72 | 73 | 145 |
| CUT | Austin Cook | +1 | 74 | 71 | 145 |
| CUT | Matt Wallace | +1 | 73 | 72 | 145 |
| CUT | Yanhan Zhou | +1 | 72 | 73 | 145 |
| CUT | Chris Nido | +1 | 70 | 75 | 145 |
| CUT | Jeffrey Kang | +1 | 72 | 73 | 145 |
| CUT | Brandt Snedeker | +1 | 75 | 70 | 145 |
| CUT | Alejandro Tosti | +1 | 72 | 73 | 145 |
| CUT | Jason Dufner | +2 | 75 | 71 | 146 |
| CUT | Scott Piercy | +2 | 75 | 71 | 146 |
| CUT | Kensei Hirata | +2 | 70 | 76 | 146 |
| CUT | Adrien Saddier | +2 | 73 | 73 | 146 |
| CUT | Takumi Kanaya | +2 | 77 | 69 | 146 |
| CUT | Ben Martin | +2 | 73 | 73 | 146 |
| CUT | Nick Hardy | +2 | 74 | 72 | 146 |
| CUT | Noah Goodwin | +2 | 72 | 74 | 146 |
| CUT | Neal Shipley | +2 | 76 | 70 | 146 |
| CUT | Jackson Suber | +2 | 73 | 73 | 146 |
| CUT | Paul Waring | +3 | 73 | 74 | 147 |
| CUT | Michael Kartrude | +3 | 76 | 71 | 147 |
| CUT | Chesson Hadley | +3 | 75 | 72 | 147 |
| CUT | Sam Ryder | +3 | 74 | 73 | 147 |
| CUT | Carson Bertagnole(a) | +3 | 71 | 76 | 147 |
| CUT | Rasmus Højgaard | +4 | 71 | 77 | 148 |
| CUT | Filip Jakubcik(a) | +4 | 76 | 72 | 148 |
| CUT | Chad Ramey | +4 | 74 | 74 | 148 |
| CUT | Erik van Rooyen | +4 | 77 | 71 | 148 |
| CUT | Luke Long | +4 | 71 | 77 | 148 |
| CUT | William McGirt | +5 | 75 | 74 | 149 |
| CUT | Ryan Palmer | +5 | 79 | 70 | 149 |
| CUT | Chase Sienkiewicz | +5 | 79 | 70 | 149 |
| CUT | Patrick Fishburn | +6 | 77 | 73 | 150 |
| CUT | Kieron van Wyk | +6 | 75 | 75 | 150 |
| CUT | Reinaldo Simoni | +6 | 76 | 74 | 150 |
| CUT | Hunter Logan | +7 | 74 | 77 | 151 |
| CUT | Evan Pena(a) | +10 | 79 | 75 | 154 |
| CUT | Jonathan Byrd | +10 | 80 | 74 | 154 |
| W/D | Nicholas Lindheim | - | 78 | - | 78 |
